By the Numbers - 2009

, Posted by Sports Cars Fans at 7:43 AM

By the Numbers - 2009

Most automakers giving themselves a pat on the back for a strong sales performance in December should take a second look at the books. A good month of sales to finish off a crappy year still equals a crappy year of sales. The chart below makes this perfectly evident, as only three individual brands and no multi-brand automakers managed to make it through 2009 selling more vehicles than they did in 2008. Not surprisingly, Subaru, Kia and Hyundai (in that order) were the three brands to post an overall sales increase in 2009, with Subaru posting a double-digit rise of 15 percent. With 216,652 sales overall, Subaru now sells more vehicles in the U.S. than Volkswagen and Mazda, two direct competitors with larger lineups.

Though no multi-brand automaker can claim a sales victory in 2009, you might be surprised to learn that Ford Motor Company with its Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo brands performed the best. FoMoCo sales in 2009 fell 15 percent, a smaller drop than any of its competitors. Toyota Motor Company sales (Toyota and Lexus combined) fell over 20 percent, but the Japanese juggernaut still managed to beat Ford in number of vehicles sold (1.77 million to 1.68 million).

The rest of the industry's performance can be viewed in the chart below. Note that there were 308 selling days in both 2008 and 2009, so the percent change in volume sold will equal the percent change in the daily average sales rate.

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Brand/Company Volume % Dec. '09 Dec. '08 DSR* % DSR Dec. '09 DSR Dec. '08
Subaru 15.43 216,652 187,699 15.43 703 609
Kia 9.75 300,063 273,397 9.75 974 888
Hyundai 8.29 435,064 401,742 8.29 1,413 1,304
Volkswagen -4.34 213,454 223,128 -4.34 693 724
Audi -5.75 82,716 87,760 -5.75 269 285
Ford -14.34 1,445,742 1,687,731 -14.34 4,694 5,480
Mercedes-Benz -15.34 190,604 225,128 -15.34 619 731
Volvo -15.96 61,435 73,102 -15.96 199 237
Mini -16.37 45,225 54,077 -16.37 147 176
Lexus -16.96 215,975 260,087 -16.96 701 844
Nissan -17.81 689,014 838,361 -17.81 2,237 2,722
Honda -18.63 1,045,061 1,284,261 -18.63 3,393 4,170
Toyota -20.61 1,554,174 1,957,575 -20.61 5,046 6,356
BMW -21.12 196,502 249,113 -21.12 638 809
Mazda -21.29 207,767 263,949 -21.29 675 857
Lincoln -22.79 82,847 107,295 -22.79 269 348
Mercury -23.24 92,299 120,248 -23.24 300 390
Porsche -24.35 19,696 26,035 -24.35 64 85
Chevrolet -25.35 1,344,629 1,801,131 -25.35 4,366 5,848
Buick -25.43 102,306 137,197 -25.43 332 445
Acura -26.84 105,723 144,504 -26.84 343 469
Infiniti -28.23 81,089 112,989 -28.23 263 367
Jeep -30.61 231,701 333,901 -30.61 752 1,084
GMC -31.09 259,779 376,996 -31.09 843 1,224
Cadillac -32.31 109,092 161,159 -32.31 354 523
Pontiac -33.31 178,300 267,348 -33.31 579 868
Dodge -33.34 522,686 784,113 -33.34 1,697 2,546
Smart -40.72 14,595 24,622 -40.72 47 80
Mitsubishi -44.85 53,636 97,257 -44.85 174 316
Chrysler -47.18 177,015 335,108 -47.18 575 1,088
Saab -59.38 8,680 21,368 -59.38 28 69
Saturn -61.35 72,660 188,004 -61.35 236 610
Hummer -67.09 9,046 27,485 -67.09 29 89
COMPANIES
Ford Mo Co -15.39 1,682,323 1,988,376 -15.39 5,462 6,456
Nissan NA -19.05 770,103 951,350 -19.05 2,500 3,089
American Honda -19.46 1,150,784 1,428,765 -19.46 3,736 4,639
Toyota Mo Co -20.18 1,770,149 2,217,662 -20.18 5,747 7,200
BMW Group -20.27 241,727 303,190 -20.27 785 984
General Motors -30.07 2,084,492 2,980,688 -30.07 6,768 9,678
Chrysler Group
-35.90 931,402 1,453,122 -35.90 3,024 4,718